A model of the mind which explains the role of emotions in normal cognition and affective disorder. Depression is recognised as one of the most burdensome diseases in Australia. Though we of course make no claims, as philosophers, to cure depression our contribution is to engage philosophy productively with a vital national area of empirical research. The other area of national benefit is to consolidate Australia's developing reputation as a site for the involvement of philosophy in interdiscipl ....A model of the mind which explains the role of emotions in normal cognition and affective disorder. Depression is recognised as one of the most burdensome diseases in Australia. Though we of course make no claims, as philosophers, to cure depression our contribution is to engage philosophy productively with a vital national area of empirical research. The other area of national benefit is to consolidate Australia's developing reputation as a site for the involvement of philosophy in interdisciplinary projects which link the humanities to the sciences. Furthermore, with the project's anchoring in the humanities, there is hope that a focus on, and increased understanding of, depression will have flow-on effects in the Australian community that will help ease the stigmatisation that is still felt by many of its sufferers.Read moreRead less
Philosophy and Cognitive Neuropsychiatry: Delusions as a case study for an integrative neurocomputational theory of rationality. A cognitive model relevant to evaluating the complementary roles of cognitive behavioural therapy and pharmacological intervention in treatment of psychiatric disorders.
The Analog Mind: Connectionism, Consciousness and Mental Representation. The aim of our project is to explore novel conjectures about the way information is coded and processed in the brain, and the manner in which the brain manufactures consciousness. This work may eventually pay rich dividends by reducing the incidence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, that disturb conscious experience. It may also lead to the development of more powerful forms of computation in artificial neural ne ....The Analog Mind: Connectionism, Consciousness and Mental Representation. The aim of our project is to explore novel conjectures about the way information is coded and processed in the brain, and the manner in which the brain manufactures consciousness. This work may eventually pay rich dividends by reducing the incidence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, that disturb conscious experience. It may also lead to the development of more powerful forms of computation in artificial neural networks. This will have a significant impact on the artificial intelligence industry, with obvious economic benefits for Australia.
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The ownership of minds. This project aims to research the awareness of a conscious state as the subject's own. This is at the heart of a perennial debate about consciousness: whether we are aware of our conscious states as our own, or are merely aware of their occurrence. The project will collaborate internationally and across disciplines and institutions to develop a conceptual distinction between two components of consciousness. It will also provide an analysis of the nature of three mental di ....The ownership of minds. This project aims to research the awareness of a conscious state as the subject's own. This is at the heart of a perennial debate about consciousness: whether we are aware of our conscious states as our own, or are merely aware of their occurrence. The project will collaborate internationally and across disciplines and institutions to develop a conceptual distinction between two components of consciousness. It will also provide an analysis of the nature of three mental disorders in which the two components seem to come apart. These outcomes are expected to constitute a significant innovation in the study of consciousness and, more generally, in the philosophy of mind.Read moreRead less
The truth about false memory. This project is aimed at determining whether reports of long-forgotten episodes of sexual abuse arising during psychotherapy should be regarded as memories or not. This issue hinges on a number of conceptual questions about memory. The project will illuminate the debate on recovered memories of sexual abuse by addressing those questions.
Philosophical perspectives on psychedelic psychiatry. This project aims to develop a multi-level integrated theory of self-representation and self-awareness that explains the effects of psychedelic therapy in particular, and transformative experience in general. Psychedelic drugs can produce lasting psychotherapeutic benefits. The mechanism is a dramatic but temporary alteration to the ordinary sense of self, known as “ego dissolution”. However, fundamental questions about self-representation an ....Philosophical perspectives on psychedelic psychiatry. This project aims to develop a multi-level integrated theory of self-representation and self-awareness that explains the effects of psychedelic therapy in particular, and transformative experience in general. Psychedelic drugs can produce lasting psychotherapeutic benefits. The mechanism is a dramatic but temporary alteration to the ordinary sense of self, known as “ego dissolution”. However, fundamental questions about self-representation and its neural and cognitive implementation remain unresolved. In order to explain ego dissolution and its therapeutic effects, this project aims to integrate two theoretical approaches to self-representation situated at the intersection of philosophy and cognitive neuroscience, the predictive coding theory of brain function and the self-binding theory of self-representation. Such a framework has potential to anchor further interdisciplinary research and practical intervention in disorders of the self.Read moreRead less
Ubiquity of K-theory and T-duality. An abstract mathematical tool, called K-theory, has recently found application in two, not obviously related, areas of physics: the classification of D-branes in String Theory, and topological phases in Condensed Matter Theory. This project aims to advance the development of K-theory using ideas from physics. In particular, the project aims to generalise previous constructions, such as T-duality, to loop spaces, and to develop the K-theory relevant to the clas ....Ubiquity of K-theory and T-duality. An abstract mathematical tool, called K-theory, has recently found application in two, not obviously related, areas of physics: the classification of D-branes in String Theory, and topological phases in Condensed Matter Theory. This project aims to advance the development of K-theory using ideas from physics. In particular, the project aims to generalise previous constructions, such as T-duality, to loop spaces, and to develop the K-theory relevant to the classification of topological phases in strongly interacting systems. This project involves postgraduate training as a crucial tool in achieving its aims and enhances Australia's position at the forefront of international research.Read moreRead less
The architecture of Australia's Muslim pioneers. This project will survey the remnant architecture of Australia's Muslim cameleers who played a vital role in the discovery, exploration and settlement of Australia. The project will generate three-dimensional visualisations of these settlements and academic publications in addition to material for the public education programs operated by the South Australian Museum.
The fundamental equations for inversion of operator pencils. This project seeks to deepen understanding of how complex systems may be significantly changed by incremental changes to ambient conditions. Mathematical models of complex systems (climate change processes, optimal driving strategies, efficient distribution policies, effective search routines) often depend on key parameters. If small perturbations to the parameters cause large changes to the solution, then the perturbations are said to ....The fundamental equations for inversion of operator pencils. This project seeks to deepen understanding of how complex systems may be significantly changed by incremental changes to ambient conditions. Mathematical models of complex systems (climate change processes, optimal driving strategies, efficient distribution policies, effective search routines) often depend on key parameters. If small perturbations to the parameters cause large changes to the solution, then the perturbations are said to be singular. This project aims to reveal the underlying mathematical structures and develop new computational algorithms to analyse a general class of perturbed systems both locally near an isolated singularity and globally. It plans to use these algorithms to solve systems of equations, calculate generalised inverse operators, examine perturbed Markov processes, and estimate exit times from meta-stable states in stochastic population dynamics.Read moreRead less
Supersymmetric quantum field theory, topology and duality. Supersymmetry is universally considered as one of the most fundamental concepts in physics, playing an increasingly central role in recent studies of quantum field theory and string theory. There is a corresponding development of supersymmetry in mathematics and this project will make advances both in 'superphysics' and 'supermathematics'.